NOTE – I wrote this post over half a year ago…and I’m thrilled that I actually put my plan back then into action! How have the past 6 months….changed YOU? — Barbara Ling
Morning all,
You know, I’ve come to the conclusion….I really hate selling.
I can do it, mind you, I can write superb books about it, I can design copy that makes the angels sing….but personally speaking, I just hate selling. It’s my shyness, I expect.
This is probably why back in 2006, I developed the Rich Hermit book series – it outlines exactly how to build portal sites, network with affiliate programs and the like. Raising 4 kids, 12 Twitter Budgies, 2 Mooses and a husband just really doesn’t give me lots of hours to spend with customers as well!
So. Over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about where to focus my energies and I’ve come up with several ideas:
1.) Virtual Coach
I’ve had the domain now ever since I started making money online, and recently built the free Income Fitness Forums too! If there’s one thing about which I know….it’s how to teach anything to anyone.
2.) Recession Proof Niches
Fact is, no matter how lousy the economy is, people will always still want to:
- Eat OR diet
- Lose weight
- Have better sex
- Feel good about themselves
- Go to the doctor
- Make money
- Get one up on their competitors
Out of the above, I’m a master at:
- Eating/dieting (lost 50+ pounds and kept it over, wrote a book about it as well)
- Great sex (The Sensuous Woman could have been written by me)
- Make money (Mastered Adsense, affiliate programs, selling on eBay, etc.)
- Feel good about oneself (and wow, did I earn every bit of knowledge there through the school of hard knocks!).
True, I’m also a master at finding people to hire online (ie, Internet recruiting) but chances are, that’s NOT the most logical industry in which to specialize right now!
So I’m looking at one of the 4 above, which brings me to the next point.
To make money in such niches, there are at least 3 things you NEED, including:
1.) Your own autoresponder (so you can build up a list – pet peeve following, btw – if you do NOT have your own autoresponder, you’re simply not serious about making a business online. It’s like swimming in the Atlantic Ocean – if you do not have at the very least a life-preserver, or a boat, or a yacht, or a … you’re shark bait, plain and simple). I’ve been using aWeber myself now for almost 8 years; it’s an excellent service.
2.) Affiliate products (so you can market related items to your visitors). You can use Clickbank items, e-Junkie products, Amazon products, eBay items…..tons of good stuff indeed.
3.) Your own domain name (this is just common sense folks. And if you scour about on the Internet for coupon discounts, you can get domains from GoDaddy at $7.45).
That’s the bare minimum for creating an online business. With your own autoresponder, you can run a:
- Newsletter
- eClass
- 7 Day Followup
- Contest
- Reminder Service
You can even invest in Instant Niche eMails to help you devise 52 weeks of solid content and put your newsletter on autopilot if you choose!
For me, the fact is…I have realized that my shyness really does inhibit a lot of money-making potential for me….so I’m going to focus on creating businesses that become destination sites themselves. And of course, I’ll share all the goodies I find here as well.
What about you? What’s your ideas for making your current business recession-proof?
Enjoy,
Barbara